Hi Laurent
I am guessing,but consider the possibility of POWs captured in N Africa and winding up in Europe.At the time and in the Normandy area the TODT organisation was working hard on counter-Invasion fortications, V1 sites etc and could have utilised POW labour. As to cause of death it could have been anything from accident on site ,caught in transit by 2nd TAF or Fighter Command sweeps prior to D-Day,illness or maltreatment, as you point out they were "African", as opposed to "European", S.Africans so their credentials as "Non-Aryan" would have been sadly obvious. On the 1st date 2nd TAF had sorties that went near Evreux and on the 2nd date mentioned sorties that went near Abbeville and Lille

Native Military Corps, S African Forces

Dick/Laurent,
I suspect these guys were the equivalent of the British Army Pioneer Corps (providing muscle power, clearing up a battle-field, burying the dead, moving dangerous ordnance, - i.e. all the very unpleasant jobs! - etc, etc). And they got about a bit!
A very quick (and not thorough) trawl through CWGC reveals a lot of them are buried in S Africa, but a large number in the Canal Zone and N Africa (as Dick suggests). However, there are also a very large number of their casualties buried in the Italian War Cemeteries (Anzio, Monte Cassino, etc). If they were PoWs then it might be that they came from the Italian Campaign rather than N Africa(?). Also found them in Bayonne, Orleans, and Durnbach(!) Cemeteries. But if you want something to do on a wet Sunday afternoon try working out how N/16197 Pvt Piet Monamedi, NMC SAF, (DoD 25 Sep 44) comes to end up in Grave 17823 of Stoke-on-Trent (Hartshill) Cemetery in the UK! I'm sure that Ross will give you a Gold Star to stick on your personal CV!!!!
HTH
Peter Davies

Mosquito raid on a V1 site

hello,

There were a few attacks on V1 sites on 20th february 1944, including one by 6 Mosquitoes of No. 613 Squadron in the Tôtes area. One of the planes (SY-L) was hit by Flak and nursed back home. Pilot F/O J.F. OVERTON was later awarded the DFC for bringing back the plane. Observer was Free French MURRAY, on his first op with the Squadron.

So there's a possibility that they were killed during a raid against either a V1 site or a military site, used as labour party by the Germans.